I had a chance to play one of these, and while ‘machine learning’ is definitely not something I care to include with ‘good tone’ this IS the best sounding solid state power module I’ve ever played. It’s the first solid state unit that the rated wattage felt like a tube amp - 60w blew my face off through a 1x12 (albeit I didn’t have a drummer with me). The learning part is a sweep/measure of the speaker response to optimize the output, and then it does some dsp emulating of a tube sound that does sound good, at least for gainy stuff. Didn’t get cleany on it so much.
Anyway, I liked it a lot more than expected
Re: Interesting Gear Developments Thread
Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2026 8:56 am
by Dr Tony Balls
TylerDeadPine wrote: Fri Jan 30, 2026 5:42 pm
I had a chance to play one of these, and while ‘machine learning’ is definitely not something I care to include with ‘good tone’ this IS the best sounding solid state power module I’ve ever played. It’s the first solid state unit that the rated wattage felt like a tube amp - 60w blew my face off through a 1x12 (albeit I didn’t have a drummer with me). The learning part is a sweep/measure of the speaker response to optimize the output, and then it does some dsp emulating of a tube sound that does sound good, at least for gainy stuff. Didn’t get cleany on it so much.
TylerDeadPine wrote: Fri Jan 30, 2026 5:42 pm
I had a chance to play one of these, and while ‘machine learning’ is definitely not something I care to include with ‘good tone’ this IS the best sounding solid state power module I’ve ever played. It’s the first solid state unit that the rated wattage felt like a tube amp - 60w blew my face off through a 1x12 (albeit I didn’t have a drummer with me). The learning part is a sweep/measure of the speaker response to optimize the output, and then it does some dsp emulating of a tube sound that does sound good, at least for gainy stuff. Didn’t get cleany on it so much.
Anyway, I liked it a lot more than expected
Yeah that's a big yuck from me.
That's the way I felt - but I played it with my eyes closed, and it sounded better than any quilter thing I've played.
Would Angus Young use it, and will anyone get pregnant because of it? I think we know the answer to that.
Re: Interesting Gear Developments Thread
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2026 11:59 am
by BrendanK
someone posted this (I think?) in the PRF Facebook group
Probably not practical / safe for real use but kind of cool as an experiment anyway
Re: Interesting Gear Developments Thread
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2026 6:04 pm
by Curry Pervert
BrendanK wrote: Mon Feb 02, 2026 11:59 am
someone posted this (I think?) in the PRF Facebook group
Probably not practical / safe for real use but kind of cool as an experiment anyway
Yeah, he figures this all out in the video and by the end basically puts it away for good feeling lucky not to have been permanently maimed.
Re: Interesting Gear Developments Thread
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2026 7:48 am
by twelvepoint
That's pretty cool. It seems like an evolved version could have the "tailpiece" and "bridge" pieces closer together and covered in a way that they won't pinch fingers. Also if he used an electro magnet, he could just turn the thing off when needed. Or have magnets that can rotate like these: https://magswitch.com/products/reversib ... 0762076801
Re: Interesting Gear Developments Thread
Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2026 9:15 am
by jirbling rake
Some of you may have already known this was on its way, but is this Sunn Beta Mini 200w Compact Bass Amp Head interesting gear?
the price seems more reasonable, although you are paying for the name. You've mentioned the ~$200 pedals that do this as well. It looks cool, from a design standpoint, and as mentioned the price may be better, but what do you think about the specs?
Re: Interesting Gear Developments Thread
Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2026 9:38 am
by Dr Tony Balls
My understanding is that the current Beta heads are class D power sections, so not the same as the originals. If you're going class D anyway why not take advantage of its small form factor instead of paying $350 extra for a big empty box that looks like the original thing?
Re: Interesting Gear Developments Thread
Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2026 10:16 am
by mdc
I like the DIP switches to change either channel from bass to lead.
